Bridging  Chasms

The Inaugural Bridging Chasms Event
21-23 September 2018
Conrad Prebys Music Center, UC San Diego

THOUGHTS ON AN EFFORT TO ENABLE SHARING

The Inaugural Bridging Chasms EVENT took place in the Conrad Prebys Music Center on the University of California San Diego campus, 21-23 September 2018. Participants included Amy Childress (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Tara Javidi (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Charles Kennel (Environmental Science and Policy), Nancy Kwak (Historian of the Evolution of Cities and Urban Spaces), Mark Reddington (Design Partner, LMN Architects), Thanassis Rikakis (BioEngineering and Educational Innovation), and Lisa Wymore (Dancer and Choreographer). Observers included Roger Reynolds (Bridging Chasms organizer, and Composer), Kari Zacharias (Ethnographer, Center for Engineering in Society), and Oumelbanine Zhiri (Bridging Chasms organizer, French and Arabic Literature).

An opening dinner on Friday evening encouraged introductions and preliminary discussion of the schedule for the following two days. Then, on Saturday morning, the first “ENCOUNTER” occurred (between Childress and Wymore). Each had approximately an hour to convey to the other an essential aspect of their disciplinary craft, whether, in this case, the ”fouling of membranes” or the making of meaningful gestures. Wymore unsettled and then guided her co-participants into the intricacies and shifting significance of component gestures and their integration into full body movements by, quite literally, dancing as she spoke. Childress then unpacked the technical issues behind water reclamation.

In the afternoon, after a shared lunch, large-scale issues were the subject of a two-hour exchange between Kennel (temperature: why is it not a sufficient indicator of climate change?) and Kwak (the phenomenon or “informality” that arises in urban areas that lack governmental control).

There was continuing discussion throughout the day regarding not only the subject matter of the ENCOUNTER, but their differing dynamics and the varying ways in which ideas were shared. Ethnographer Zacharias, organizers Reynolds and Zhiri not only took notes on developments as they occurred but weighed in with their perspectives during meals and breaks, as did the support staff.

After Saturday dinner, three musicians – pianist Aleck Karis, violinist Kayavash Nourai, and percussionist Steven Schick – performed a succession of musical selections that led their listeners from the familiar spaces of notated Western musical tradition, through improvisatory Persian alternatives, and then to a contemporary work in which not pitch, but rather the evolution of sonic character over time was the subject.

A hot oatmeal breakfast provisioned all for a three hour Encounter between, to begin with, Reddington (how does a wall define the relationship between two spaces?) and Rikakis (multi-perspective, reflective praxis and moving towards educational optima on a global scale), and, after a coffee break, Javidi – who had also participated in the previous encounter – discussed “When, how, and how much can ‘interactions’ help in digital communications and artificial intelligence applications?”

After a luncheon featuring pesto penne, salmon, and other embellishments, all ten of those in attendance heard a few concluding remarks from Bridging Chasms organizer Reynolds and then entered into a wide ranging, vigorous discussion regarding what had happened, and what might come of the comity and personal resonance that had emerged over the weekend. Kennel observed that “The chasm is a larger framing device that attracts a wider and more diverse set of observers and therefore more potential solutions.” Rikakis added that “BC necessitates that the participants not only cover the bigger picture of their work but also cover details thoroughly so the group can get a true insight into what the person is doing/how they are doing it/what motivates them.” Kwak pointed out the fact that the most powerfully communicative moments in an exchange occurred when the presenter became momentarily “self-absorbed”, rather than projecting outwards to others, and Javidi stressed the importance of presenter and listener becoming accountable to each other. Childress summed it up, later: “… a chorus develop[ed] – a chorus that sings of our grandest challenges: social justice, climate change, communication. A truly interdisciplinary chorus! … The environment was ripe. From my perspective, the chasm was bridged and the ultimate framework for communication across disciplines was built.”